Sudan, Africa’s third-largest country, has been engulfed in a devastating civil war for nearly three years. The conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has resulted in more than 40,000 deaths, displaced over 14 million people, and pushed large parts of the country toward famine. Despite the scale of this humanitarian catastrophe, Sudan continues to receive disproportionately low global media attention.
According to data cited by The Economist from analytics firm Chartbeat, media coverage of Sudan in 2024 averaged just 600 stories per month. In contrast, conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine dominated headlines with nearly 100,000 stories per month each. This stark imbalance raises a critical question: why is Sudan’s crisis so invisible in global media discourse?
To understand this disparity, scholars often turn to the concepts of flow and contra-flow of information.
Sudan: Post–World War II and the Idea of Free Flow of Information
After World War II, the idea of the free flow of information became a cornerstone of American foreign policy. Rooted in Cold War ideological competition between the United States and the Soviet Union, it promoted the unrestricted movement of news and media across borders. On the surface, this appeared to encourage transparency and global understanding.
However, by the 1960s and 1970s, critics from the Global South began questioning this model. They argued that information largely flowed in one direction—from the Global North to the Global South. Western news agencies dominated global narratives, often portraying developing countries through lenses of conflict, poverty, and instability, while exporting Western values and lifestyles.
This imbalance was increasingly seen as a form of cultural imperialism, where control over information meant control over how societies and conflicts were understood globally.
The Push for a New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO)
Concerns over unequal information flow led to the demand for a New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO) in the 1970s. The idea gained traction within the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which also called for a more equitable New International Economic Order (NIEO).
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) played a pivotal role in advancing this debate. In 1977, it established the MacBride Commission, which produced a landmark report containing 82 recommendations aimed at democratizing global communication, diversifying media ownership, and ensuring fair representation of developing countries in international news.
The Rise of Contra-Flow in the Global South
By the 1990s and 2000s, rapid economic growth in countries such as India and China transformed global media dynamics. This period saw the emergence of contra-flow, a term coined by scholars Oliver Boyd-Barrett and Daya Kishan Thussu, to describe the movement of information from the Global South to regional and global audiences.
Contra-flow was enabled by the expansion of media outlets and new communication technologies. Bollywood challenged Hollywood’s cultural dominance, while Al Jazeera, based in Qatar, became a powerful alternative voice in global news. Its coverage of the 2001 Afghanistan war and the 2003 Iraq war notably contested US-led narratives and broadened international perspectives.
Why Sudan Still Remains Marginalised
In today’s era of internet-driven hyperconnectivity and social media, one might expect grassroots voices to amplify crises like Sudan’s. Yet, despite the promise of digital contra-flow, Sudan’s war remains underreported.
This suggests that structural inequalities in global media still persist. Conflicts involving powerful states or strategic interests tend to dominate coverage, while crises in countries like Sudan—despite their human cost—struggle to break through the noise of algorithm-driven news cycles.
Conclusion
Sudan’s media invisibility is not accidental; it reflects long-standing imbalances in global information flows. While contra-flow has challenged Western dominance to some extent, it has not fully corrected the structural neglect of conflicts in parts of Africa. Understanding the concepts of flow and contra-flow helps explain why one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises continues to unfold largely out of the global spotlight.
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